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Dying Light Review

Updated: 30 Dec 2015 1:05 pm

Get ready to run!

BY: Aswin Rajeev

When it gets dark you know it’s time to run!

The story basically starts with the protagonist, Kyle Crane, who is an undercover agent sent to retrieve a file from a rogue politician, Kadir Suleiman, known as ‘Rais’, that can possibly tarnish his agency’s, GRE’s, reputation. Suleiman is using this file to blackmail the agency into leaving him alone.
Dying Light is set in Turkey, in the historic city of Harran. The city is plagued by a virus outbreak, which has caused them to turn into vicious zombies. Kyle is airdropped into the city, but as soon as he sets foot on the ground, he is attacked by a group of bandits. Even though he shoots at them, they injure him significantly. But the sound of the gunshot, attracts the infected. What will he do?

Dying Light Launch Trailer

What will he do?

He gets bitten by the infected, but just in the nick of time, he is saved by Jade and Amir, two survivors. Amir eventually dies trying to save some time to get Jade and Kyle to safety and they get to the ‘Tower’. If you’re wondering what the ‘Tower’ is, it is like the king of safe houses. Nobody or nothing can harm them in here? Hopefully!

Dying Light Gameplay Trailer

The Tower

The Tower is managed by a guy called Harris Brecken, a Parkour instructor who had come to Harran with big dreams before the infection started. The Tower hosts a lot of survivors and everyone looks up to Brecken because of his will and determination. GRE drops in supplies through air drops, which contains food and most importantly, Antizin.

The game is very well detailed and the lighting effects are praiseworthy

Antizin

Antizin is a drug that can slow down the spread of the infection. It cannot cure the infection, only slow it down. The first mission itself is to retrieve an air drop of Antizin, and Kyle volunteers to do it. Even though he retrieves the air drop, he is instructed by the GRE to burn the package, so that the Tower will have to make contact with Rais, and by doing this can confirm his identity.

Suleiman aka Rais

Our initial mission is to confirm Rais’ identity. Kyle confirms that Rais is indeed the rogue politician Suleiman. Now, GRE wants Kyle to get close to Rais so that he could retrieve the file. For achieving this, he has to do a lot of third rate tasks that Rais tells him to do. In return, he is offered a crate of Antizin, but eventually, Rais betrays him and he ends up with five vials.

Think twice before going out at night!

Weapons

Something that impressed me was the amount of weapons that can be crafted in Dying Light. There are over a hundred parts available and over a thousand possible combinations. You might not be making the same weapons that I made, and that level of customizability makes this game a winner.
There are only a few guns in Dying Light as it is more inclined to the survival of the fittest. There are a few rifles, shotguns, and pistols. The other weapons, though, can be an awful lot of fun to play with.

Run, Fight, Survive

Bash em’ up

During the daytime, you get to take out your revenge on the infected. Craft a weapon and go bash em’ up. Be careful not to go out into the crowded areas. They can definitely overpower you. But there are a lot of isolated zombies, and can be killed very easily.

Parkour and Zombies!

Infected

The most common of the infected are the biters. They have been infected for a long time and they are the easiest to kill. Virals are the ones who have been recently infected and are really fast and strong. Biters can be differentiated from the Virals, by their looks as well as the level of aggression. Then there are the Gas Tanks, which wear Hazmat suits and have an oxygen cylinder at the backside. You know what to do with those, don’t you?

Test your survival skills!

At night, you can encounter a few more of the infected. The Volatiles are the most powerful of the lot and the only advisable thing to do is to run for your life. Most of the other infected can be killed in one on one situation, but not the Volatiles. They look horrendous and can definitely give you the creeps.
Bolters are another set of infected which are quite rare. They are not aggressive, and they bolt out suddenly upon seeing anyone. They have a backstory which is kind of a spoiler.

Biters and Virals

Lastly, there are the Night Walkers. They are the biters that have transformed at night. Even though they can be killed easily, they are fast and aggressive. They can surprise you and can even kill you if unprepared.

Boss Fights

There are five main boss fights in Dying Light. You can probably guess the last one, with Rais. That is the most difficult and longest boss fight that I’ve ever played in the game. Then there is Tahir, Thabit Erdal and Salim. They are all humans and are easy to defeat.
There is one fight with an infected, the Demolisher, and as the name suggests, it is not a happy being. It can demolish walls and throw rubble at Kyle, but it is quite dumb.

Darkness is approaching

The most exciting phase of this game is the dynamic day and night cycle. The infected are calm and attack only when the player stands still, during the daytime. But at night, they take on a whole new dimension. I was literally left gasping for breath the first time it turned dark. The screen is completely black with a small portion lit, with our flashlight.
You can go around and clear locations to make them safe houses and these can be used to stay away from the infected at night. You always have a choice whether to go around at night, apart from a few missions, or you can simply get to the nearest safehouse and sleep till morning.

They are coming for you!

Run! Run! Run!

The infected turn into powerful creatures at night. The only thing that helps is our Survivor Sense. It is an ability that helps the player to get through the night without being preyed upon by the infected. If detected, please don’t stay where you are. Just run in the safe house’s direction. The infected can be slowed down using U.V lights, firecrackers, and other devices.

Who will you serve?

Initially, Kyle’s primary objective was to retrieve the file from Rais. But he can’t retrieve it unless he does something for him, which he is obviously not fond of. And there, are the survivors who look up to him, in the hope of getting Antizin and possibly a cure. Who will he serve? Rais, the survivors or the GRE?

Gameplay

The USP of Dying Light gameplay is definitely the dynamic day and night cycle. According to the developers, the day lasts for 64 minutes, while the night lasts for a mere 7 minutes. Even though this is a bit less, the excitement that you get while playing 64 minutes in the daytime will be achieved in less than 7 minutes during the night time.
The lighting of the game also deserves a special mention and you can clearly see from the screenshots, how well the lighting is done.

What I didn’t like

Even though the game is beautifully made, it has its share of cons. The weapons’ durability is a major issue and is quite frequent. There will be situations where you are attacking hordes of zombies and your weapon suddenly decides to stop functioning. And then you will have to hold ‘R’ for repairing it and by the time you are done, you will probably be history.
The storyline is quite predictable and does not keep us guessing. The missions can be a bit boring and you feel like it has been added just to extend the gameplay. The characters, too, don’t have much depth like the ones in Far Cry or Assassins Creed.

Conclusion

Dying Light is the best survival horror game of 2015 without a doubt. Apart from a few negatives, the game excels in almost all other aspects. The day and night cycle, ability to craft tons of weapons, parkour and the beautiful open world makes it a must play for any gamer. I rate it 8 out of 10. Dying Light is available on Steam for 20.39$ which is a fair price for such an amazing game.

Dying Light: The Following Reveal Trailer

Techland, the publishers of the game, is also releasing a DLC package in February 2016, titled Dying Light – The Following – Enhanced Edition. This new DLC brings a lot to the table like legendary player levels, drivable and customizable buggies, new weapons, side quests and a few mysterious characters.

Drivable and Customizable buggies

That is the end of the Dying Light review. What do you think of this game and how many times did you go out at night in the game? Leave your answers in the comments section below.

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